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Lore[]

Main article: Lore
Kingconan

King Conan

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is an MMORPG based on Robert E. Howard's original works about Conan, a Cimmerian. The stories of Conan are numerous and varied, while the lore of Conan's world has been extended by other authors of novels and comics since Howard's death.

The world of Conan is called the Hyborian Age, an epoch set between the sinking of Atlantis and the beginning of recorded history. The world is large and contains many diverse nations or races, filled with mighty-thewed warriors, wicked sorcerers, and beautiful women. In Howard's stories, Conan is presented in many different roles: a penniless wanderer, a captain of the guard, a leader of brigands, a pillager of nations, a pirate, and eventually a King of one of the largest nations of the world, Aquilonia.

The timeline of Age of Conan starts shortly after the events of "The Hour of the Dragon", after Conan has regained the throne of Aquilonia. Conan is not playable in the game. Instead, players create their own characters and experience their adventures in the Hyborian Age. Conan is featured as a non-player character that players' characters can meet in the game and interact with.

Gameplay Features[]

There are many MMOs out there to choose from, and there are more on their way. Age of Conan brings several new and unique features to the hobby, as well as bringing together the best features that other games offer, creating a fantastic experience for the player.

Combat Systems[]

Bloody

A gory combat scene, typical in Age of Conan.

The combat system in Age of Conan is probably the most revolutionary element the game brings to the MMO scene.

Melee combat has in many MMOs been reduced to an auto-attack feature with certain abilities you can use to do more damage. Age of Conan is designed to make the player feel more involved in the game, removing auto-attack but giving the player complete control over when, where, and from what angle he or she wants to hit their opponent. The game also has a combo system, enabling players to follow certain attack chains to deal more damage to their opponent.

The ranged combat system in Age of Conan also differs from many other MMOs. Instead of targeting a foe and merely auto-attacking that target, the player has the option of aiming, making skill an important factor when playing the game. There are several ways of aiming at your opponent; some require more skill but deal more damage, while others makes it easier to aim, but are less effective.

Not selecting a single target enables the player to deal damage to more than one opponent at a time in both melee and ranged combat, depending on the weapon he uses and the method in which he attacks.

Mounted combat in Age of Conan is a unique system. Rather than just using mounts as a means for traveling from point A to point B, you can actually fight from the back of your mount, be it horses, camels, or one of the other more unique mounts in the game. Mounted combat adds a level of gameplay not seen in previous combat systems. Combat from mounts is limited and different from ordinary ranged or melee combat.

Spellweaving is a new way of doing magic in Age of Conan. While spell-using characters have normal spells to cast at their opponents, spellweaving allows several spells to be sewn together, dealing devastating damage in a single attack. Multiple players are also able to weave a spell together, enabling a mix of spells from different classes that can perform feats that a single character cannot.

Age of Conan also includes siege combat: large-scale Player Versus Player battles over battlekeeps, giving access to siege engines and special mounts used to bring down great enemies in these epic battles.

Player Cities and Battlekeeps[]

Scenic-001

A sunset in Khemi.

To give players a means of impacting the world, Age of Conan enables guilds to build both Player cities and battlekeeps.

Player cities give a guild a base of operations and the opportunity to construct buildings and other improvements that can perform beneficial tasks for the guild, such as creating NPC vendors where guild members can sell items, and other players from that and other guilds can come to buy.

Battlekeeps are built in a zone specifically designed for PvP, The Border Kingdoms. There's only enough room for a limited number of battlekeeps, so if a guild wants to build one and there's no more room in The Border Kingdoms, they are forced to attack a current battlekeep to take it over.

Graphics[]

Age of Conan has become well known for its graphics. The engine uses DirectX 10 to display stunning character models, beautiful scenery and amazing combat scenes. You can find many screenshots displaying these incredible graphics in our screenshots section.

2011 saw the introduction of the Dreamworld Technology. This allowed for improved performance on lower end systems, and has resulted in much greater stability across the board.

Character Creation[]

When you start playing Age of Conan, one of the first thing you will do is create a character. You can choose the gender, race and class of the character, and customize his or her appearance. You'll select a server, or instance of the game world, in which to adventure.

Server Types[]

With Age of Conan installed into your computer, and your account made, you are ready to tackle the vast lands of Hyboria! Well, almost. First thing is first, you have to choose what kind of server you want to play on. After logging on, you will see a column with the word CREATE and to the right you will see a list of all the server names. Depending on your preference you might want to play on a:

  • PvE Server (Short for Player Vs Environment)
Also known to players as a "Normal" server. This type of server is for people who like to simply kill monsters and avoid battling other players. Guilds within PvE servers primarily focus on raiding and running instances. This type of server is perfect for people who are new to MMORPGs.
  • PvP Server (Short for Player Vs Player)
This type of server is geared toward people who like to do battle with other players. All players are free to attack other players at will, granted that they are not in town. However, the reverse is true, so other players are free to attack you when you are out of town. Guilds within PvP servers primarily focus on gaining "honor" by battling other guilds. The only downfall to this type of server are the infamous "gankers", or players (usually who are a high level) who run around killing players that are significantly low level.
  • RP-PvP (Short for Role Playing - Player Vs Player)
This type of server is near identical to the PvP type server. However, players are expected to behave like their characters would. This means they are expected to talk and interact like they are living in the world of Hyboria. Failure to do so will result in [OOC] (Short for Out Of Character) tag next to the players name in chat.

Race[]

Four races are available in Age of Conan: Aquilonian, Cimmerian and Stygian, with an additional race, the Khitan, added in the expansion pack, Rise of the Godslayer. You must have the expansion pack to play a character of this race.

Each races is allowed to select certain classes; Cimmerians, for example, may freely choose to be a Barbarian but may not be a Tempest of Set. You can find out which races can play which classes on the race/class chart.

Class[]

Age of Conan has twelve classes, divided into four archetypes: Soldier, Priest, Rogue and Mage. Each class has its own unique combination of abilities, and each feels different in play. Don't be afraid to experiment until you find a class you like. Classes are basically how you want to play the game. Would you rather be absoring damage or dealing it? Do you prefer to get up and personal with your enemies or do you prefer to sit back and fire bolts of magic at them? Here is a simple breakdown of classes:

Soldiers[]

Soldiers are, at best, damage absorbers. With the ability to wear the heaviest of armor, they are good at taking damage and dealing a good amount of it themselves. A soldier can be a Guardian, a Dark Templar or a Conqueror.

Priest[]

Priests are the medics in Age of Conan. They heal with an impressive array with spells that can either heal an individual, the whole group, or them just themselves. A priest can either be a Priest of Mitra, a Tempest of Set or a Bear Shaman.

Rogue[]

Rogues specalize in dealing loads of damage to single targets, but at the cost of being lightly protected. As such, rogues will die easily when put against multiple enemies. All rogues have the ability to hide, which makes them invisible to the enemy. A rogue can be either a Barbarian, an Assassin or a Ranger.

Mage[]

Mages are the magic wielders in the world. They prefer to use magic to defeat their foes rather than cold steel (with the exception of the Herald of Xotli, which prefer to use both). They are able to inflict very solid damage to single targets and are unmatched in their ability to damage groups with AoE (Area of Effect) spells, but they are also usually lightly protected which makes it risky to get the attention of a large number of enemies. Mages can also raise minions to aid them in battle. A mage can either be a Demonologist, a Herald of Xotli or a Necromancer
See Also: Choosing your Class

Character Customization[]

Age of Conan provides players with an extensive array of character customization options. Any player is able to make their character look unique. Sliders allow you to choose your character's height, build, and the size of his or her chest, nose, the height of his or her eyebrows, the length of the face, and more.

Starting Tips[]

Here are a few tips gathered from the AoC Forums for those just starting out in Age of Conan.

It contains a few spoiler's you might say, on what you should do to grab that extra little bit of XP or a special item or two to help you in your journey. It isn't much... but it's something.

First 5 Levels[]

  1. When you first gain control over your new character, turn around 180 degrees, and swim out and down towards the reef you see. There's a chest just in front of it, that sometimes contains a magic ring that adds 0.5% fire resistance.
  2. Instead of going straight to the girl in front of you, turn left along the beach. Some alligators to kill, but no treasure, other than the teeth occasionally dropped.
  3. Loop back around and follow the beach to the right. It goes on a for a bit, but eventually you hit some rogues, then gators. There's a gator boss that drops a random body part, use not yet known. I got a severed foot. The gator boss guards a treasure chest, that may also contain a magic ring with the same fire buff.
  4. After freeing the girl, bear left for a mini-boss that drops a two-handed blunt weapon and guards another chest that may have another magic ring.
  5. Bear right after the girl but sharply so: The path to the right splits. The righmost path ends in a little camp with another miniboss. No treasure chest, but he does drop a new dagger.
  6. After killing the slaver, in the tents section, the tent behind the boss who drops the bow and arrows also contains another chest, which also may have another magic ring.
  7. Inside the temple, to the right of the boss, is another 2 minions. Behind them is another chest, with maybe another ring.
  8. After getting through the locked gate, and through the gorilla gauntlet, you'll eventually find and kill a gorilla boss. Take his treasure, which serves no purpose yet other than giving you starting money. To the right of the boss is another two gorillas. Kill them; they guard the final chest before you get to town.

White Sands[]

  • The White Sands Mausoleum key!
You get this key along with a weapon from the blacksmith outside who broke your chains. Bring him metal from the docks to get this key. But where is it used? Took me a while to figure that one out!
First, you CANNOT find this chest at night! No way, no how, it isn't there! You gotta brave the gankers to get your treasure. Go to white sands. Follow the beachline to the right a looong way. Walk across the shallow channel, and go along the beach. You pass the stone dock to your right, pass the first big bandit camp on your left, then eventually on your left you'll see giant stone stairs. Go up the hill to the right of these. It's a little path, flanked with torches. You'll see the mausoleum in front of you, but the chest isn't there! It's directly to the left on the path, right in front of the single tent. Loot be yours now.
  • Bottle with a Quest
On White Sands, when you first spawn by the rowboat walk straight ahead and to the right about 50 feet and there is a bottle in the sand by the shoreline that will send you on a quest to a nearby Island to kill the Ape Queen (not the Ape Behemoth Boss). Found a chest on the island that contained a non-magical necklace worth around 45 tin plus experience for killing the ape queen and its minions. Don't remember what level they were. but i think it was level (5)

Old Tarantia[]

(post level 20 after completing the Final Fight in Tortage)

  • First Arrival, Items in a Chest

External Links[]

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